Peaks and Valleys

Today we decided to really delve into what Interlaken and Switzerland are all about... THE SWISS ALPS!!! Reading in our guidebooks (being the prepared travelers that we are) we knew that we could get discounted tickets to the top of the Jungfrau mountain for having Eurail passes. The Jungfrau is one of the highest peaks in the Alps and includes the highest rail station in Europe. Basically, you can ride three different trains and cable cars all the way up some really steep inclines through amazing mountain views to reach the snow-capped, glacier covered peak, the Jungfrau. This was a really incredible trip; actually being here is like living in a postcard. It just doesn't seem real that these mountains are right here in front of us.

Once at the top of the peak we really started to realize just how much of an impact the altitude was having. We felt ourselves getting dizzy a couple of times as we took in the views and hiked in our Sperry boat shoes to "The Top of Europe." It was really fun! Knowing that we had woken up in warm and clear Interlaken and standing in what felt like the middle of the Arctic was really something else. There was also an "Ice Palace" carved into the glacier that was SO COOL!! (Literally...hee hee) It included tunnels and a maze and amazing sculptures. The whole thing was completely carved out of ice, though. What an amazing experience. After getting tired and cold we headed back down the mountain to eat a hot meal including Swiss apple pie. We continued down a little further and hopped off the train to walk through the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

This valley is an area between two massive rock walls with the Alps as a backdrop. There were snow-melt waterfalls around every corner and perfect, cliche sights like cows with ringing bells and little Swiss cottages sitting in fields of wildflowers. An hour and a half hike brought us to a cable car that took us up to the tiny village of Gimmelwald, population 14 (not including goats and cows). We took time to just sit in awe of where we were and enjoyed buying some homemade bread and yogurt from the town hotspot...Esther's Shop. Seriously- there were signs everywhere for this place advertising the goods and when we arrived we found ourselves looking at items sitting on a landing at the top of a stairwell. Yup- that was "Esther's Shop." Her stairwell. No matter- the food was great and on our hike back to our hostel we enjoyed the food.
We ended the night at a local pizzeria before heading back and meeting our new roommates from Texas. It was nice to have some friends from the South to chat up with and share stories from our travels. Meeting all these people has been one of the best parts of this trip.

Look for pictures on facebook now! They are all up through today. Thanks so much for keeping up with us. We love hearing from everybody!

Love ya'll,
Tripp and Laura